Mechanism for operating type-writing machines.



' J. H. PILLINGS.

MECHANISM FOR O PERATING TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION. FIL ED MAY I5, I9I5.

Patentd Mar. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

J. H. PILLINGS.

MECHANISM FOR OPERATING TYRE WBI'TJNG MACHiNES.

APPLICATION men MAY 15. 1915.

imos 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

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JOHN H. PILLINGS, OF HAMILTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO NATIOHAL AUTGE'ZAEIQ TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF HAMILTON, OHIU,.A CQRPURATZQH GI ($33.10.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pa ten te a.

Application filed May 15, .1815. Serial No. 28,323.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. PILLINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hamilton, in the county of Butler and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Mechanism for Operating Type-lvriting Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In the McCall Patent No. 1,024,092, certain mechanism is shown and described which include a series of levers and means whereby they may be selectively rockedin such sequence as is determined by the perforations in a controller strip. The mechanism as shown in said patent was especially designed for use with a typewriting machine as the means for automatically operating the key levers and various other parts thereof, to which the levers of the mechanism shown in said patent were to be con nected.

The present invention relates to improvements in the mechanism of said prior patent, the objects being to render said mechanism more elficient and less liable to injury, more readily assembled or disassembled, wholly or partly, for purposes of re pair, and more easily connectible with the typewriting machine in such wise that while it will automatically operate the typewriting machine it will not interfere with the ordinary manual operation of saidtypewriting machine when that is desired.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts shown' in the drawings and hereinafter described and pointed out definitely in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view in a plane extending from the front to the rear end of the machine; Fig.2 is a top plan view of the rear end of one of the levers I); Fig. 3 is a sectional rear elevation in the plane indicated by line 33 on Fig. 1. A very considerable part of the machine between the two sides thereof is broken out of this Fig. 3'. Fig, 4 is a side view of one of the links by which the levers D are connected with the levers of a typewriting machine; Fig. 5 is a front view of one of the same links; Fig. 6 is a side elevation partly broken away of certair parts of one of the said links, and Fig.

7 is a sectional in Fig. 6.

The frame work F, by which the various movable parts of the present invention are supported, is so constructed that an ordinary typewriter, of which a portion T is shown in Fig. 1, may be secured thereon with its parts, such as key levers L, etc, in the proper position for connection with the mechanically operated levers of the present invention.

The typewriteroperating mechanism is generically like that which is shown in said prior patent. it-includes a cylinder A rotatablv mounted at the rear end of the machine and extending transversely and having in its surface a large number of longitudinal grooves a. A perforated controller strip B runs over and moves with this cylinder. A plurality of parallel levers D are fulcrumed on fulcrum bar I so that they may be displaced endwise slightly and rocked when so displaced. A vertical pin H is movably mounted in the rear end of each lever, and this pin rides on the surface of the controller strip .B as it passes over the cylinder A, but will drop through any perforation in said strip which passes under it, and into one of the grooves a whereby, as the cylinder turns in the direction shown by the arrow on Fig. 1, said lever will move endwise forward. This carries a specially formed part of said lever into the path of a part carried by a vertically reciprocating bar K, by which the displaced lever is rocked; and after this said lever is automatically returned to its initial position. The said cylinder and controller strip, and the means for turning the cylinder may be like the corresponding parts as shown in said prior patent; but in all other respects the mechanism shown in the drawplan view of the part shown ing andnow to be described is specifically unlike the corresponding parts as shown in said prior patent.

The levers D are all alike. Each has at its rear end a plurality of vertically perforated ears (Z, in which the pin H is mova-bly mounted. Each pin H has a shoulder it which lies above the lower ear, and thereby prevents said pin from dropping out. A spring it engages the upper cn'dof said pin, and acts to move it down. As shown this springis made of fine wire which is attached to the side of the lever, and is carried from its point of attachment over the top of said lever rearward between two little ears 6 formed on the lever, and then upward and downward in the form of an inverted U-loop, and thence into the perforation of the upper ear d and against the upper end of the pin H. Each lever D has a horizontal elongated slot d through it for the reception of the fulcrum bar I; and from this slot a narrower slot (Z extends downward and forward to the lower edge of said bar.

Near the front end of the machine is a fixed comb J; and near the rear end of the machine is another fixed comb J. Each of these is a vertical transversely extended thin metal bar having a plurality of properly placed slots j therein extending from its top edge downward. Each lever D at its front end passes through one of the slots of the comb J and adjacent to its rear end passes through one of the slots in the comb J. In' this manner the parallelism of the levers D is preserved, and said levers are prevented from moving laterally upon their fulcrum bar I. This fulcrum bar is a'cylindrical bar in which and between each pair of levers inclined notches z and z" are cut, thereby reducing the notched parts of the bar to the form of a flat inclined bar (as shown in Fig. 1), which is a trifle narrower than the slot d and extends in substantially the same direction. This fulcrum bar I is supported at its ends in frame members F in which it may move endwise under certain conditions. In its surface is an elongated slot into which projects a screw which screws down through one of said supporting frame members. By means of this screw this fulcrum bar may be ,set in the required position such that the levers D are supported upon the cylindrical parts thereof. But if one loosens this set screw however, this fulcrum bar may be moved endwise far enough to bring the notched parts thereof within the levers, that is to say, into registering relation with the slots (1 The'upper edges of the narrowed parts of the fulcrum bar which now lie within the levers will support the levers so that they will not drop. If, now,'it is desired to remove one of the levers one has only to lift it upward and rearward slightly,

and its slot (1 will pass over the narrowed or flattened part of the fulcrum bar.

On the lower edge of each lever D is a thickened boss d having a forwardly extended shoulder d and a downwardly ex tendedspur d whose rear face" is beveled. Beneath all of these levers is a transversely extended bar K which is fixed at its ends to the rear ends of two rocking levers k which arejfulcrumed on a transversely extended shaft M.. A constantly rotating shaft N which is mounted in the sideframe From this it will be evident that while the machine is in operation this bar K will be reciprocating vertically up and down. This bar carries a plurality of pivoted pawls In, each of which is placed in the same vertical forwardly extended plane as that in which the associated lever D lies. Each of these pawls is normally under the influence of a spring 70' acting to yieldingly hold it in the operative position shown in Fig.1. The upper rear ends of the pawls 1 1 will not, as the bar K is moved up and down, touch any of the levers D which are in the normal positiombut when, one of said levers has been displaced forward as previously explained, it will bring the lug (i into the path of the associated pawl 76. When the bar K makes its next upward trip, the corresponding pawl 7c will engage the lug d of the displaced lever. However little the lever has been displaced this pawl will engage the bevel rear face of the spur (l and therefore the continued engagement of the pawl with the lever is insured until the lever has been rocked, as it will be by the upward movement of said bar K. If, by chance, the bar K is up when one of these levers D is displaced, the rear face Z of the lug (Z will engage the rear face of the corresponding pawl k, and will cause it to rock forward on its pivotal support, and therefore no damage will be done to the mechanism. 7

After each lever has been rocked as stated, it is moved rearward to its normal position by a spring U. There is one of these springs for each level D. These are bent fiat springs, and they are all secured to a transversely extended bar V which is fixed to two arms f of the frame work of the machine. Close to the front end of each lever D is a vertical slot cl which extends from its lower edge upward.

Each of the levers D has its front end connected with a vertically movable member of the typewriter, as, for example, one of the key levers L, by a substantially vertical link E. This-link includes two members capableof sliding up and down relatively to one another, and a spring 6 by .which the lowerv link member is yieldingly supported by the upper member. The lower member comprises two parallel narrow fiat bars e, and an integral top bar 6', which connects their upper ends. The lower ends of these side bars 8 are connected by a horizontal pin e. The front end ofthe associated lever D passes between these two side bars 6, and the pin e enters the vertical slot d": in said lever D. The upper link member comprises a rod (2 whose upper end is pivotally connected with the overlying movable member L; a vertically grooved slide a which 18 located between the two side bars and is screwed onto the threaded lower end of the rod 6 The spring a is a relatively long coiled spring which surrounds the rod 0* and engages at its upper end with the top bar 6, while its lower end'lies in a recess c .it has when depressed manually. \Vhen. de-

sired, the typewriter keys may be actuated manually without causing any movement of any part of the. described operating mechanism except that-the upper member of the associated link will move down with lever L, and this will be accompanied by a slight downward 'movement of the lower link member. which movement however will not be great enough to carry the pin c to the lower end of the slot (1" wishes to adjust the eii'ective length of any link the lower link member will be drawn down far enough to withdraw the pin c from slot 11; then the lower end of the link may be swung forward. and this will permit the lower link member to be turned. and this will cause the slide to travel up or down on the rod 6 Having described my invention. I claim:

1. In mechanisnr ot' the character described. the combination of a plurality of such position that its narrow parts lie beparallel levers each having a longitudinally elongated slot, and a narrower outlet slot which extends from said elongated. slotto the lower edge of said lever. two combs which respectively engage said levers near their front and rear ends and thereby prevent any substantial lateral movement of said levers, a fulcrum bar which passes through all of said elongated slots, said fulcrum bar being formed with alternately disposed parts which can not pass through said elongated outlet slots and intermediately disposed narrow parts which may pass through said outlet slots, supports in which said "fulcrum bar is slidably mounted. and means to prevent the endwise sliding movement of said fulcrum bar and to hold it in tween the levers.

2.-In mechanism of the character described. the combination with a longitudinally grooved" cylinder and a perforated controller strip running over the same,-0f

a plurality of levers each having a longi-t \Vhen one pivotally supports said levers, a pin verti cally movable in the rear end of each lever and projecting below the same into contact with said controller strip, a spring engaging the upper end of each pin and pressing it downward, means limiting the downward movement of the said pin-and means for rocking any of said levers which has beendisplaced endwise by the action of the cylinder on any pm which has passed tnr ugh a pertoration in said strip and intooneof the v longitudinal grooves in the cylinder.

3. In mechanism of the character specitied. the combination of a plurality of longitudinally displaceable levers each having a longitudinally elongated slot. a horizontal fulcrum bar. which goes through said slots and supports said levers. means for displacing said levers endwise in predetermined seqnence. a vertically reciprocating transverselyexte uiled horizontal bar, a plurality of pawls pivoted on said bar and severally adapted to engage and rock the levers which are displaced endwise. and means for returning saidlevers to their initial positions after they have been rocked as stated.

4. In mechanism of of the character specified. the combination of a vertically reciprocating transversely extending horizontal bar. a plurality of pawls pivoted thereto and projecting upward therefrom, a plurality of endwise displaceable levers which lie respectively over said pawls,-each of said levers having a pawl engaging surface which normally lies out of the path of the associated pawl but which is carried into said path by the endwise displacement of said lever. and said lever having also a vertical shoulder which lies just in front of said pawl engaging surface and just behind the path in which the upper end or" the associated pawl travels.

5. In mechanism of the character specifled, the combination of a vertically reciproeating transversely extending horizontal bar, aplurality of pawls pivoted ther to and projecting upward therefrom, a plurality of endwise displaceable levers which lie respectively over said pawl.s,each of said levers having a pawl engaging surface which normally lies out of the path of the associated pawl but which is carried into path by the endwise displacement of said lever. and a downwardly extended beveled spur adjacent to the front edge of said pawl engaging sur- Iace.

6. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a plurality of longitudinally displaceable parallel levers,

each having an elongated slot and a horizontal fulcrum bar which goes through sald slots and supports said levers, means for. displacing said'levers endwisein predetermined sequence,- means for rocking each lever as displaced, and a cross bar extending transversely over all of said levers, and a plurality of independent springs secured-to said crossbar and each of said levers having a shoulder with the front face of which one i of said spa-in engage.

'Z. In mechfmism of the character described, the combination of a pivoted lever capable of endwise displacement and having mentioned lever,said link being composed of upper and lower members which are slidable vertically relative to one another, and a spring by which the lower member is yieldingly supported from the upper member 8. in mechanism of the character described, the combination of a pivoted lever having adjacent to its front end a vertical slot, an overlying vertically movable memher, and a linlccomposed of two members,

Y viz., a lower member comprising two parallel straps whose upper ends are connected by a cross bar, a pin extending between and connecting the lowerends of said straps and lying in the vertical slot of the first mentioned lever, and an upper member comprising a rod which is pivotally connected with the overlying movable member and which able connection with said rod,and a spring around said rod and between said slide and cross bar.

9. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a pivoted lever having adjacent to its front end a vertical slot, overlying vertically movable member, and a link composed of two members, viz., a lower member comprising two parallel straps whose upper ends are connected by a cross bar, a pin extending between and connecting the lower ends of said straps and lying in the vertical slot of the first men tioned lever, and an upper member comprising a rod which is pivotally connected with the overlying movable member and which extends loosely down through the cross bar of the lower link member, and a slide which is slidable vertically between the side bars of the lower link member, a nut lying between said side he rs and below said slide and which is screwed onto the lower end or" said rod and a spring surrounding said'rod and lying between said slide and cross bar.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. i JOHN H. PILLINGS. Witnesses:

'C. W. HARGITT, A. H. LOUIS. 

